The College News
VOL. XX, No. 23
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1934
ojyrlght BRYN MAWR
�OM/F.OK NKWS. l�3t
COI
PRICE 10 CENT'S
Bryn Mawr is Given
High Ph. D. Rating
College Committee Approves
Graduate Instruction Here
In 11 Subjects
FINE ARTS GIVEN STAR
The Educational Record has pub-
lished in its April number the report
of the Committee on Graduate In-
struction. The committee was given
the task of deciding which colleges
and universities were suitably equip-
ped to give graduate degrees, par-
ticularly the degree of Doctor of Phil-
osophy, and the results showed that
Bryn Mawr is the only independent
women's college which is fitted to give
a Ph.D. However, the girl who goes
to Harvard or, rather, to Radcliffe,
can study all but four of the 35 sub-
jects which the committee considered,
and will find remarkably fine equip-
ment, since Harvard is starred in al-
most every department.
The report of the Committee de-
scribes its method of judging the
schools as follows: "A list of the
fields was sent to the dean of the grad-
uate school of every institution offer-
ing work for the doctorate. The dean
was requested to check the fields in
which graduate work for the doctorate
was offered, to indicate the number of
doctorates conferred in the last five
years, and to submit a list of the
graduate faculty in each field. From
the reports of the deans, supplement-
ed by study of catalogues, lists of in-
stitutions offering graduate work for
the doctorate in each field were pre-
pared. The secretary of the national
learned society in each field was re-
quested to provide a list of 100 well-
known scholars distributed among the
various branches of the field. To each
of these scholars was sent a list of
all the institutions offering work for
the doctorate in the field with their
respective graduate staffs in the field.
Each scholar was requested to check
those institutions which in his judg-
ment had an adequate staff and equip-
ment to prepare candidates for the
doctorate; and to star the depart-
ments of the highest rank, roughly
the highest 20 per cent."
The list of scholars who were asked
to give their opinions included sev-
eral from Bryn Mawr: Professor
Swindler and Professor Diez in the
Continued on Pane Five �
Erratum
An error was made in tho
statement last week in the News
concerning the Second Year
French Course. Second Yean
French next year will be, as at
present, a study of 17th Cen-^
tury French literature the
semester and of 18th
French the second semester,
will continue to be given in one
section.
A new Advanced Course in
the 19th Century-\will be offered
every year beginning^hpl935-3ti.
This will consist of a study of
19th Century Poetry in the first
semester, given by Professor
Gilman, and of the 19th Cen-
tury Novel in the second semes-
ter, given by Professor Schenck.
Glee Club Will Give
The Gondoliers
Operetta Is Especially Noted
For Excellence of Music
and Light Wit
TO BE GIVEN MAY 11-12
Those who endorsed the recent edi-
torial in the News which urged that
;more students be "given a chance to
�disport" on Goodhart stage, will be
j refreshed to learn that this Friday
|and Saturday, May 11 and 12, more
ithan eighty people will be found dis-
torting on the stage, all r.t the same
(time. The event is the Glee Club's
I production of Gilbert and Sullivan's
I Gondoliers.
CALENDAR
Friday, May 11: Glee Club
production of The Gondoliers.
Goodhart, 8.20 P. M.
Saturday, May 12: Glee
Club productibn of The Gondo-
liers. Goodhart, 8.20 P. M.
Dance in the Gymnasium.
Sunday, May 13: Pro Art*
String Qu�rtet. Goodhart, 8.o\)
P.M.
Monday, May 14: Freshman
plays. Wyndham, 8.20 P. M.
Tuesday, May 15: Dr. Chris-
tine Adamson Essenberg on
"Mohammedan Life in Damas-
cus." Deanery, 5.00 P. M.
Wednesday, May 16: Varsity
Tennis Game vs. Swarthmore.
4.00 P. M.
Pro Arte String Quart it.
Goodhart. 8.30 P. M.
Haverford Presents
PlaV WithBrvnMaWr8inCe gondoliers was given in Bryn^1110* �>OpS KCVC al
7 ___7 !lrr:f^efT;,bvauseitris^in!! Romantic Traditions
riven for the first time in finndhnrt
D. Canaday Wins Acting Hon-
ors in Three Cornered Moon,
Modern Farce .
PORTRAYAL REALISTIC
(Reprinted from the Review by Pro-
fessor L. Arnold Post in The Haver-
ford News.)
given for the first time in Goodhart
and because it is not well known
around Bryn Mawr, it ought to prove j Custom
interesting and worth while to watch. ]
The Gondoliers is considered one of
Gilbert and Sullivan's best. The story
is light, the music is light, but the
combination makes a charming oper-
etta. Just before it was written, Gil-
bert and Sullivan had a serious quar-
Formerly Associated
With Orals; Hoops Broken
Three Times
FREAK BEQUESTS MADE
A hoop, to the layman, is "a strip
rel which broke their close relation-j of wood or metal bent in a circular
Either the Cap and Bells play of sniP of twelve years or more. SuUi-|form and united at the ends, for hold-
van felt that Gilbert's lyrics stole thejing together the staves of casks, tubs,
thunder of the music. He wanted to . , .
.. etc., or any of various purposes as 1930. �
write a serious and grandiose opera,! Mt~
onH Kv tfc.t onhiovo Ko^a- ^w^m., I for use as a child's plaything." To In a
this year is a drama of, by, and for
the people who think that Shelley and
Tennyson are the ultimate achieve-
ment of the Bryn Mawr school of lit-
erary appreciation or it has a deeper
and by that achieve better recognition. |Ior use as a cnua'8 Plavthin&
Gilbert wisely saw that neither of j us, hoops are far more than that. They
them was fitted for serious work and j possess the signal honor of being the
playthings of Bryn Mawr Seniors.
Their significance is deep; their roots
and the mention of them is apt to
bring tears to the eyes of alumnae, for
they conjure up a picture of what is
conventionally known as care-free
youth.
Hoop-rolling was not always a part
significance. Perhaps my habit of \ refused to help. Sullivan left England
dealing with classical Greek drama is jin despair and wandered around on
a handicap when I am confronted with' the Continent. While in Venice, he
a modern play. I noted plenty of j became entranced with its canals and j are embedded in th� remote past of the
hybri* among the characters of "Three.buildings and gondolas and general colle�e'
Cornered Moon," but no adequate ret- j atmosphere. He suddenly perceived
ribution. This seems rather immoral tnat here before him was the exact
unless the whole play is meant to; material for a romantic operetta. The
be a protest against the irrationality j hatchet between himself and Gilbert
of a world where novelists must eat!was Quickly buried, and work began
and the sins of the mother are visited '< immediately. The result was a succes- j
on the children. The plot certainly**. w"�� it was produced on Decem- �'�'���M�'Day. Until 1919 the en-
was that of the book-of Job. for the! ber 7./1889, at the Savoy Theatre. | t'reSen.or Class used to s,t, hoops ,n
Rimpelgar family lose their financial London was jammed with Gilbert and ��nd' on
independence in the first act and re- Sullivan fans, and the play ran for
gain it in the last. *>99 consecutive nights. Gilbert's li-
First there is the problem: Whatibrett<> was a masterpiece of light wit
became of Kitty Gray (Madelyn:and logical inconsistency. Sullivan's
Brown, whose stage name is Jacque-jmusic was spontaneous, sparkling,
line Gray), who walked out into the and lyrical.
night, ostensibly to purchase Ovaltine The operetta is being directed by
Mr. Alwyne and Mr. Willoughby, who
J. L. Lowes Will Be
Flexner Lecturer
Distinguished Scholar, Critic,
and Author Has New Ideal
of Scholarship
SOBJECT TO BE KEAtfS
Dr. John Livingston Lowes has'now,
to our infinite pleasure, accepted Miss
Park's invitation to give the Flexner
lectures here next autumn. He is
well known to both scholars and stu-
dents of literature for his splendid
work on Chaucer and on Coleridge,
and therefore it is with extraordinary
interest and anticipation that Bryn
Mawr looks forward to the series
which he will give on John Keats.
Dr. Lowes is certainly one of the
foremost men of letters of this gen-
oration and in America. He comes to
Bryn Mawr with many special dis-
tinctions; he has many honorary de-
grees, including those of Ph.D., Doc-
tor of Law, Doctor of Literature,
and Doctor of Human Laws. At pres-
ent he is president of the Modern
Language Association, a Fellow of the
National Institute of Arts and Let-
ters, a member of the Academy of
Arts and Sciences, and of the Ameri-
can Philological Association. He has
been a professor at Harvard from
1918-30, and Francis Lee Higginson
Professor of English Literature since
Pro Arte String Quartet
Will Give Three Recitals
(Especially contributed by Miss Park)
Just as its year ends the College
has an extraordinary chance to hear
rare and beautiful music. Mrs. Eliza-
beth Sprague Coolidge has given the
College three programs of chamber
music by the Pro Arte String Quar-
tet. The programs and the dates of
the three evenings of next week follow
at the end of the article.
To Mrs. Coolidge herself the coun-
try owes a great deal; she has far-see-
ing plans for music in America, par-
ticularly in the case of chamber mu-
sic. She has not only encouraged its
composition and playing, but she has
materially supported the existence of
several Quartettes. The Eschner
Quartet and her other proteges are
available for the usual audiences, but
she has also established at the Li-
brary of Congress in Washington the
Foundation called by her name,
through which chamber music concerts
in great variety are given in Wash-
ington itself and admirable broad-
casts of chamber music over WJZ are
made weekly. Last summer as part
of her far-reaching plan, the Pro
Arte Quartet was sent to the Cen-
tury of Progress for a series of Cham-
ber Music recitals, and she is this
spring making a gift in several places
of the same three recitals by the Quar-
tet which they gave in Chicago last
summer. Bryn Mawr College and the
Peabody Institute of Music in Balti-
more are among the fortunate recipi-
ents of this series during the coming
week.
The Pro Arte Quartet is made up of
four Belgian artists, who have scored
Continued on Pace Six
(advt.), and was never heard of more?
Had her pose of studied frivolity con-
cealed a sinister design? I am almost
.sure that Kenneth (Mr. Sheppard)
had met her and murdered her, as well
he might. Ed's (Mr. Truex) fainting
fit was probably meant to convince
Kitty that he was not to be dallied
with. It may be that the whole fam-
ily were in league with kidnappers and
that the appearance of Kenneth's
name in the morning paper really
meant in the code that there was a
million-dollar ransom to be divided.
Certainly Elizabeth (Miss Gateson)
was no better than she should be. To
neglect T. S. Eliot and. Humbert Wolfe
and to quote Shelley is to prove that
one is not honestly a Bryn Mawr
poetess. Her elaborate scheme to in-
duce the unfortunate Donald (Mr.
Nichols) to shoot himself was a- tri-
umph of duplicity, equalled only by
the brazen shamelessness with which
she took advantage of the accidental
arrival of a telegram to pretend that
bad news prevented her from carrying
out her part of the suicide compact.
To be sure she does get rid of the
young man later without bloodshed.
Probably she had been unable to keep
up his insurance payments. Her love
scene with the doctor seemed on the
other hand to have real warmth in it,
but he too was deceived if he thought
he needed to give her a protecting
arm.
Miss Rimplegar (Miss Stern) was
Continued on Page Three
Lantern Elects
The Lantern wishes to an-
nounce the election of Evelyn
Thompson, '35, as Editor-in-
Chief for 1934-35, and the elec-
tion of Elizabeth Kent, '35, and
Leigh Steinhardt, '37, as mem-
bers of the. Editorial Board.
have directed all past Glee Club pro-
ductions. Elizabeth Monroe, '35, is
constructing .the scenery. The sets are
ambitious and include not only a Ve-
netian canal and the Doge's Palace,
but also a gondola and a "Xebeque."
The plot is complicated and typical of
Gilbert and Sullivan. Mistaken identi-
ty concerning a king is the theme,
but it entails much sub-plot. The cast
is as follows:
The Duke of Plaza-Toro,
Betty Lord, '35
The Duchess of Plaza-Toro,
Henrietta Scott, '36
Casilda (their daughter),
Joan Hopkinson, '35
Luiz (the Duke's attendant),
Susan Morse, '35
Don Alhambra Bolera( the Grand
Inquisitor) ......Ellen Stone, '36
Marco Palmieri.... Helen Ripley, '35
Giuseppe Palmieri,
Margaret Righter,- '34
Gianetta .........Agnes Halsey, '36
Tessa ........Maryallis Morgan, '36
Inez ........Evelyn Thompson, '35
Antonio........Doreen Canaday, '36
Giorgio ........Elizabeth Kent, '35
Francesco .......Betty Stainton, '37
Fiametta ..........Lois Marean, '37
Vittoria ........Louise Meneely, *34
Giulia.............Irene Ferrer, '37
Chorus of Gondoliers, Retainers,
and Contadine.
Hall Presidents ,
The Hall Presidents for the
year, 1934-35, are as follows:
Pern West � Catherine Bill,
'35.
Pern East�Jeannette Morri-
son, '35. j.
Rock�Elizabeth Eaton, '35.
Denbigh�Anne Hawks, '36.
Merion � Elizabeth Chamber-
layne, '35.
Sophomore runner brought them the
news that the black sheep of the class
had at last passed their Orals. Presi-
dent Thomas herself, on one occasion,
called the glad message down from a
window in the Chapel to the hushed
multitude below. Sometimes the sus-
pense was frightful; two or three Sen-
iors would be called back as many as
four times to read again. Then when
the victims at last issued forth, worn
but victorious, the class jn a body
would rush to Senior Row and roll
hoops wildly as a gesture of triumph.
On three dreary occasions, in 1907,
1913, and 1919, not everyone passed
her orals. Then the class glumly
broke their hoops � Hoop Massacres
these mournful occasions were called�
to keep bad luck from passing down
to succeeding Seniors. They thought
they knew the reason for their misfor-
tune in 1919. It was blamed on one
Senior who had in her possession an
insidious hoop quite intact, bearing the
date of the ill-omened year, 1913. Af-
ter 1919 the orals began to be writ-
ten examinations. Hoop-rolling and
May Day were consolidated, which
ended that chapter in the romantic
past of hoops.
We unearthed a half-hoop that goes
back, even in its mutilated state, to
1910. There are a few barrel hoops
of archaic appearance, pleasing to the
artistic soul, that have been floating
about for years. Embroidery hoops are
the latest variation, with appropriate
inscriptions, as: ' the First Cave
Woman to Eve; or Queen Christina to
Greta Garbo. All the hoops and sticks
came originally from Germany. Since
the depression, ingenious Seniors have
been getting dowels cut up, three for
ten cents, at a sawmill, or making
sticks out of clothes hangers or broom
handles. The five-and-ten-cent store,
we hear, laid in a special supply of
appropriate ribbons this year, promi-
nently displayed, a week before May
Day, at five cents a yard, fit prey
for the thrifty shopper. The theory
has been advanced that an interesting
study could be made on the size and
fading capacity of ribbons on hoops as
Continued on Pare Thr��
addition to his valuable profes-
sional experience, Dr. Lowes is fur-
ther qualified as a scholar and lec-
turer because of his writing in Con-
vention and Revolt in Poetry, The
Road to Xanadu, and the Geoffrey
Chaucer, masterly studies of the poet-
ic imagination. Both books have had
extraordinary success: not only have
they interested scholars, but the treat-
ment of the material collected by sedu-
lous research is so well done that the
books had enormous popular appeal.
Dr. Lowes, in a recent article in the
publication of the Modern Language
Association, explained his ideas of
scholarship; the object of research
lies in "applying the methods of sci-
ence to the interpretation of an art."
The fundamental prerequisite of in-
terpretation is "knowledge, exhaustive
and exact," but the end of research is
criticism, research "for the illuminat-
ing of the understanding."
It is this ideal of scholarship, which
Dr. Lowes has already practiced in
his treatment of Coleridge and Chau-
cer, that makes him doubly welcome to
Bryn Mawr.
Deanery Reception Held
for Russian Ambassador
The college arose sleepily from its
beds last Sunday morning to find that
Bryn Mawr had been suddenly plung-
ed into a real red-letter day and that
festivities were going on to the left
and right of us, and, in fact, on all
sides. Mr. Alexander Troyanovsky,
the Soviet Ambassador to the United
States, was to pay Bryn Mawr the sig-
nal honor of visiting the college, and
eight hundred guests had been invited
to a reception in his honor at the
Deanery in the afternoon.
We knew at once that it was going
to be a great day because all the bars
had been taken down from the gates
and liniousines were whizzing around
the campus roads at a highly danger-
ous pace. Flags were flying, report-
ers were milling around the grounds,
important-looking people were arriv-
ing in throngs, and Bryn Mawr had
a truly holiday air usually seen only
on Big May Day.
Nothing could have prevented us
from finding a vantage point on the
grass and watching for the arrival of
Mr. Troyanovsky. He came at last
and was seen entering the Deanery to
meet crowds of anxious reporters,
while foreign cars converged upon the
Deanery literally from all directions.
More and more guests came and came,
but they apparently all found shelter
in the Deanery, for no one left until
late in the afternoon. When they
finally did emerge, they were assert-
ing vociferously that they had had
a thoroughly delightful time.
\